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Kel-Tec KSG Review

The Kel-Tec KSG is an American made, bullpup, pump action, dual tube-magazine shotgun. In terms of looks, it’s pretty “Stormship Troopers”. Although the KSG came out in 2011, they’ve continually been in demand and hard to find on shelves. There are 2 really interesting features on the KSG, 1: it’s a bullpup shotgun, so it has an incredibly short overall length (OAL), 2: it uses 2 magazine tubes, so the regular version fits 14 (!) shells instead of a typical shotgun’s 4 or 5 in the tube.

KSG NR with 18.5″ barrel, otherwise same as the Tactical. This is NFA ready for Americans.

KSG Usability

Shooting the KSG is pretty similar to a regular shotgun, but because of the bullpup design there are several unique qualities. The weight is further back and more compact, making the shotgun swing quickly. It is much more compact and could be used in a shooting blind or vehicle more easily than a 28″ barrelled duck gun.

Running the pump on the KSG isn’t as smooth as a nice old Wingmaster or a Winchester SXP, but it’s not that bad either. Once you’ve shot all the shells in one tube, you’ll get a “click” (unless you counted your shells), after which you need to switch the selector to allow shells in from the other side and shuck a round in.

Loading the KSG is kind of a pain in the butt because you have to put the shells deep inside the bottom of the buttstock to load it and the shell latch toggle must be in the right position. Still, it’s a bit easier to load than the UTAS and because of the capacity, you don’t have to load it often.

The cross-bolt safety is fine where it is, nice and clunky and it’s quite easy to see whether it’s on Fire or Safe.

The slide/bolt unlock is just forward on the trigger guard. Bit of a weird spot, but easy enough to use.

Kel-Tec KSG Reliability

Reliability varies based on who you speak with, but one thing that can cause jams on the KSG is short stroking. The mechanism really needs to be run firmly as the last little half inch of travel is where a new shell pops pops out of the magazine tube. If you don’t ram the slide to the rear, it won’t send the shell out of the tube.

Summary

The KSG is a really interesting design, and for some people, it’ll be exactly what they need. If you’re looking for a dual magazine, high capacity, bullpup shotgun, check out the UTAS UTS15 as well as the KSG.

This pump action KSG can hold 14+1, no problem

bolt and slide release

bolt lock tab

pins removed

pins

upper and lower

lower

hammer

shell on carrier

shell loading

bolt detail1

bolt face

About Adriel

Adriel has been hunting all his life and tries to apply a practical point of views to his reviews. Find the Hunting Gear guy on Facebook or YouTube